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Go Ahead. Multitask. But Try It Like This.

Hey there!

There’s a school of thought that says, “No multitasking! Concentrate on one thing at a time!”

Seems logical. But what if there was a particular type of multitasking that worked, and worked really well?


(Click/tap ↑↑↑↑↑↑ that red YouTube button to subscribe to my channel. You’ll get notified when I release new videos.)

Hope this helps!

David

All Episodes

One Step At A Time

Five Ways To Have An Excellent Coffee Date With Me

Five Ways To Have A Crappy Coffee Date With Me

Taking Advantage Of The Wisdom Of The Tribe

How To Be A World Class Complainer

The False Nobility Of The Struggle

Watch Out – The Rules Are Going To Change

“Show Me The Secret, Daddy!”

Coaching vs Consulting vs Facilitating

The Perils of Live Performance And Why Jeremy Kappell Should Not Have Been Fired

Let’s Welcome To The Stage…Failure!

Don’t Confuse Price With Value

Whiteboards In The Hallways

Go Wake Up Your Luck

Playing and Planning

The Two Things Most Talent Try to Accomplish Way Too Soon

10,000 Hours To Become Good At Something? Not Really.

The Curse of Knowledge

The Trick Charlie Munger Uses To Make Better Decisions

Everyone’s A Customer, Not Just Your Customers

“What do you mean, you’re a ‘process guy’?”

Pay Attention To Your Storytelling, Not Removing Your Breaths

How To Conquer FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)

The Problem In Every Commercial Script

The Job In Every Commercial Script

The Secret In Every Commercial Script

How To Pick Your Stage Name

Voice Over Is REALLY Hard. Until It Isn’t.

Helping Make Resolutions Stick

ACX Jobs: They’re ALL SAG-AFTRA-Friendly

Non-Union? You Can Still Open An AFTRA H&R Account. What?

Who Says You Need To “Feel Like It?”

Are You Engaged?

Your Day Job Might Just Be Worth Keeping For A Bit Longer

Want To Learn Something Really Well? Teach It To Others

Don’t Confuse What Works With What You Like

The Lost Keys And The Microphone In My Elevator

My Insane Backup System Plus Two Helpful Tips

What Open Loops Are And Why They Work So Well

Two More Things For Which You Can Use Open Loops

Three Things Not To Say Or Do…When Trying To Learn Something New

Front Burner and Back Burner Project Management

How To Properly List The Accents and Dialects You Perform

My SAG-AFTRA Presentation On VO Demos (Part 1)

My SAG-AFTRA Presentation On VO Demos (Part 2)

A Simple, One-Word Decision-Making Question To Ask Yourself

Ready, Shoot…Aim

How You Can Use The MVP Model As A Performer

How Lazy Can You Be?

Avoid The Struggle Porn

The Robocall Equivalent Of Unsubscribe

Saying Goodbye To A “Failure”

Making Your Links Irresistible

HTTPS Is Not Just For Banks – It’s For You

The Threat That Made Me Create a New Page For LAME

The Resource You Must Guard Most Carefully

How New Media Is Using The Oldest Ad Model Ever

“You Could Be Hit By A Bus!”

Killing Customers With Kindness

I Found Out What She Was Podcasting About

How I Answered Voices.com’s Inquiry

Turning Mountains Into Molehills

Motivation: Your Three Big Needs In A Cool Little Package

Go Ahead. Multitask. But Try It Like This.

The Prodigy Game Doesn’t Deserve This Treatment

I Don’t Want To Go Blind

What Fair Markets Are, And Why Voices.com Isn’t One

Trevor’s Three A’s From Apple On Killing Customers With Kindness

Getting Ready vs. Getting Started

You’ll Never Believe Who Got Rejected By Harvard

There Is No Failure, Only Feedback

Who Is Your Most Dangerous Adversary?

73 Videos In, My First Hater Appears

If You’re The Smartest Person In The Room, Do This ASAP

Your Glasses And Crucial Laptop Positioning Info

One More Insanely Over-engineered Piece Of Gear: My UPS

The Crazy Backward Way IKEA Prices Their Stuff

Voices.com Complained To YouTube That I Violated Their Privacy

The Gig Economy: RIP?

For Your Health: Not Perfect. Just Better.

Celebrate Your Isolation!

Mr. Wonderful Is Actually More Wonderful Than I Thought

Let’s Finally Close The Digital Literacy Gender Gap

The Guaranteed Way To Completely Avoid Criticism

The Two Things People Judge About You Within Seconds

Prioritizing…Nashville Style

Are You Committed? Or Just…Interested?

Audible Retail Samples: Why They Suck And Why It Doesn’t Really Matter

How To Voice Copy That’s Set In Italics

Dyslexia, And The Palindromic Poem. The Wha?

Increase Your Chances Of Being Seen And Heard On Facebook

Jamie Has Some Thoughts About Fiverr

Is Simply Discouraging Distracted Driving Enough?

“Young People Are Just Smarter.”

The Real Purpose Of The “Can You Hear Me?” Phone Scam

Beware Of Overkill

Laying Down The Perfect Slate

An AMA Preview: The Word “Ethnic” – A Slur, Or An Essential Adjective?

10 Rules of Profitable Self Discipline from Napoleon Hill

AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 1)

AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 2)

AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 3)

AMA (Ask Me Anything): Here Are The Answers (Part 4)

AMA Answers Part 5 Plus A Medical Warning

Last AMA Answers (#6): Gear, Services and Success

A 7-Word Reminder: “Don’t correct people when it matters little.”

Do You Have A Plan? And Is It The Right One?

What’s Your Next Big Move? Are You Ready?

Build Your Future On Your Own Platform, Not Someone Else’s

I’m Leaving Facebook: Why Groups and FB Live No Longer Spark Joy

Time To Accept That I’ve Failed At Something – Happily

Crowdfunding Without The Internet: Pulitzer And The Statue Of Liberty

The Amazing Power Of Recognition And Badging

Might We Have A Possible Cause For Alzheimer’s?

Why Podcasting And Radio Are Out Of Whack

Value Enthusiasm, But Value Persistence More

Ten Ways To Make Money With Podcasts Besides Ads

One Quick Question To Find Out How Important Something Actually Is

The Workflow For Producing These Videos (So Far) Part 1

Why Not Wade? And…Why Not You?

Audiobook Narrators: How Paymasters Work, And The One I Recommend

Why Gen Z And Millennials’ Love For Audiobooks Is Crucial

American Idol: It’s All About Story, Not Just Singing

Less Beating Yourself Up, More Talking Yourself Up

Resist Oversharing. Instead, Start A Dialogue.

Vocal Care: It’s All About What Works For You

3 Biases You Should Be Aware Of

3 More Biases You Should Also Be Aware Of

Wow. People Really Grokked Biases. Let’s Tackle Fallacies.

Three More Fallacies You Need To Watch For

What’s Your Imprint?

Fallacy Follies, Volume 3

Two Last Big Creativity-Crippling Fallacies

Fail Sooner To Succeed Sooner

A New Lead Source For Performers: Voice Assistants And Smart Speakers

A Great Way To Handle Trolls and Haters

Quantity Does Not Usually Equal Quality

Is Facebook Truly A Monopoly? No More Than Microsoft Was.

Fear Of The Unknown, Or The Day Before My Surgery

A Strange Aspect To Performing That Should Be Cause For Protest, But Isn’t

Want To Grow? Don’t Go It Alone.

How Am I Doing? I’m Gobsmacked. That’s How Am I Doing.

Why I Give My Agents 10% Of Everything

Not Just Explainer Videos, But Video That Explain Things Spectacularly

Mental Floss To The Rescue: Skills You Can Pick Up On YouTube

What’s Better Than Willpower? Grit.

Regarding Apple’s App Store: Be Careful What You Wish For, Pepper

Of COURSE You Wonder What Porter’s Five Forces Are. Who Doesn’t?

Don’t Waste Your Time: Talk Shows Aren’t Meant To Be Fair

Sooner Or Later, I’m Really Going To Tick You Off

Just Because You Can Do Something Doesn’t Mean You Should

Wait, What? Audacity Records In The Background?!

Enjoy Your First Booking. Pay Close Attention To The Next Three.

Pattern Interruption And The Musicality Of Voice Over

Do You Still Have A Landline? Is It POTS? Wait, What’s POTS?

Increase Your VO Accuracy, And You’ll Increase Your VO Profits

Age Range Isn’t Really A Valid Metric For VO

What Is The Overton Window?

How To Stop Jealousy From Killing Your Progress

Even The Bible (And Game Of Thrones) Has One-Star Reviews

How Much Is Enough To Make Per Hour?

With Royalty Share Plus, ACX Makes Hybrid Stipends Official

Wait, Vices Can Be Good For Your Health?

What A Lovely Thing To Discover: Praise From CourVO

I Figured Out What I Provide: The Onboarding Performers Don’t Get

You Don’t Need Permission To Care Or Contribute

It’s Not Just You. It’s The Superstars, Too.

Do You Sometimes Think Irrationally? Maybe. Here’s How To Stop It.

The Struggle Of Announcer-y Versus Non-Announcer-y Voice Over

How My VAs Support Me And My Team

What Exactly Is “The Cloud?”

The Often “Most Difficult” Concept I Teach

Please Unsubscribe From This List. But Don’t Do This One Destructive, Lazy Thing.

Don’t Mistake The Joy Of Knowing For The Joy Of Doing

Why Giving Yourself Some Simple Homework Can Be Life-Changing

One Weird Trick I Do That Makes My Note-Taking Superhuman

The Worst Thing About The Biggest Money-Making Entertainment Category

What Can We Grab From A Schedule This Strict?

Get Better At Executing Today’s Plan By Starting Last Night

How To Create Useful, Organized Audition File Names

Where To Find Related PDFs For Audiobooks on Audible

I’m Halfway Finished. What Have You Valued Most? What Can I Do Better?

Our Digital Attention Span Is Incredibly Brief

“Serves You Right!” She Actually Has No Idea How Right.

Create A Safe Environment For Self-Improvement

Why I Use One Single Channel For Crucial Communication

The Even Cheaper AT-2020 USB Plus Microphone?

Fred Willard (and Billy West) On Quickly Creating Authentic VO Characters

Leo Makes Your Searching Spectacular

On Asking For Things Performers Can’t Do

How To Battle The Urge of “Efficiency”

One More Best-Of-Breed Way To Brilliantly Complain

Changing Audacity’s Sampling Rate To 48,000 Hz

10 Words Of Encouragement When You’re Stuck

Seek/Give Mentorship That’s Appropriate To The Journey

Two Cases Where You Might Not Want To Simply “Follow Your Passion”

Having Fun With Headphone Volume

Please Stop Rushing To Perform

Something To Consider: Everyone’s Internal Menu

One Crazy Key To Creativity: Pure, Unadulterated Boredom

For The Sheer Joy Of It

The Most Commonly Consumed Media Is…!

What’s Dangerous For Us To Care About

Please, Clever Copywriters…Stop Using This Term

Wait, Wait…What? They Actually Listened?!

Why You Should Take The Same Classes Twice

How Your Character’s Menu Informs Your Performance Choices

What Shouldn’t Be Your Metric For VO Success

Someone Awesome Who’s Also Rising To A 365-Day Challenge

Union Or Not, Start With Union Rates

O. M. G. Look What Matt Zurbo Did!

So Where Will That Huge Facebook Fine End Up?

The Root Words of “Typecast”

Avoid That One Obvious “That Worked” Sound We Make

Why Union Members Can Audition For Non-Union Work

200 Auditions. 1 Booking. A Ghost. Really?

I Can’t Do One Thing I’m Asked To Do Every Single Day

One Of Your Secret Weapons: Agility

Do Networking Events Make You Anxious? Let’s Fix That.

Project X Is Just About Ready. I’m A Bit Giddy.

The Difference Between Mansplaining and Advice?

Too Late, Melissa. You Already Are.

Help Me Solve A Lovely Mystery!

Speeding Up The Playback On The Audible App

Why Those Other Casting Sites Usually Aren’t Worth It


Raw YouTube Captioning

hey there it’s David H Lawrence the 17th
and I’m pretty sure that if you’re
watching these videos on a regular basis
you know how valuable I find getting
stuff done is and I’m also a pretty
inveterate multitasker I’m usually doing
more than one thing at once making a
video watching my phone making sure that
this is happening and that is happening
setting up a webpage you know checking
the the post-production on something is
it exporting prop haidu multitask and
there’s a school of thought that says
don’t multitask don’t do that just do
one thing at a time you’re gonna kill
yourself if you multitask you’re gonna
make mistakes you’re gonna you’re really
not gonna get as much done as you think
you’re gonna get done well I really
can’t help myself because there are
times when I’m waiting for something to
complete that I can do something else
and that’s just one instance it’s not as
crazy as an example that I remember from
when Betsy was running a session at
South by Southwest on Millennials in the
workplace she’s an expert on Millennials
and coaching and and she’s just
brilliant and she was running a panel
session at South by Southwest that tells
you right there that she’s brilliant
because she’s running a panel at South
by Southwest anyway they had a series of
of I think was four people they had two
managers of Millennials and two
Millennials and one of the Millennials
worked for a major soft drink company
I’m not gonna say which one but she
worked in their New York offices and she
had the crowd in stitches because she’s
like look if I am in a meeting and I’m
bored I’m gonna be on my phone and I
don’t care who who knows it and you know
if it’s really boring I might just leave
I can listen to the meeting and check to
see if I’m bored but I can also be on my
phone and getting other work done
because I’m a really good multitasker I
can multitask really really well and you
know aside from the vocal fry in the up
talking and all that sort of thing it
was just hysterical because there were
many many people in the room that were
like wow okay you don’t even know what
you don’t know yet however she was
working for this major soft drink
company not as an intern but as an
executive so there was something to be
said for that despite my raucous laugh
um I also saw a talk on Ted about
multitasking and I read an article I
think in the Atlantic about it and both
of them had a similar thesis on
multitasking you don’t have to just do
one thing at a time you can multitask if
you do it in a particular fashion and
when I think about it that’s exactly how
I do it and that fashion is doing it
gracefully that’s it gracefully
so the frenetic ism the the the speed
and the acceleration and get things done
go go go the over that wall you know the
whole idea of rushing when you’re
multitasking do this then that then this
that that whole set of energies can
really cause problems it can make you
make mistakes it can make you forget
things that you were supposed to do
while you were so busy doing other
things and it brought to mind the
behaviors that I observed in one of my
managers when I worked at America Online
his name was Mark Erwin is one of my
heroes one of the best people I ever
worked with
and he had this really calm way about
him even though he got a ton of stuff
done we’d be in meetings and he might be
taking notes looking at the computer
talking to somebody making a quick call
to get some clarification on things
looking at physical samples of stuff but
he was doing these things in a way that
was just lovely just moving from thing
you know if he wanted to make a note he
would take his time to do make the note
go back to the computer go back to the
meeting whatever it was and I never
quite could put words to what I was
observing and what I saw and what I
thought was really good but for me it
was a great model because I learned from
that that you don’t have to be a nut job
while you’re doing work now this was the
same guy who when I walked into his
office one day and he said so how long
do you think it’ll take you to get that
area done I was working on an area for
America online that’s what I used to do
and I said I think he’s gonna take
another week and a half and he said just
suppose that you had two hours
what could you get done in two hours how
much of it could you get done in two
hours could you get the whole thing done
think about that
could you you know it turns out I got it
done in three hours so he taught me to
question all of my assumptions all of my
facts all of my assumptions and I will
forever be grateful for that because he
set me up for a really good life
experience in that area but I saw this
this as I said this talk on Ted and this
article I think in the Atlantic about
just sort of slowing down the frantic
nature of what can be you know the
nuttiness of multitasking and I also
found some historical examples of it
Einstein for example Einstein you know
no one could argue that Einstein was
prodigious I mean he was a child prodigy
but I mean prodigious in his output
theorems and laws and papers and you
know teaching and not just in the world
of physics and math but also in the
world of politics and religion and
social justice I mean he was very very
very very quick and he multitasked all
the time and he always said words to the
effect of I can do more than one thing
at once because I’m called to do more
than one thing at once but I’d do it in
a way that looks fluid and it feels
fluid to me so that was one example then
there was the example one of my favorite
authors
Michael Crichton Michael Crichton dozens
and dozens of bestselling novels novels
like the Andromeda Strain
and Jurassic Park and you know I think
it was like a total of 37 books or
something maybe 32 books I don’t forget
I forget the exact number also a whole
bunch of short stories television shows
movies screenplays you know one of my
heroes I mean Andromeda Strain was a
movie that changed everything for me in
terms of how movies look and feel you
know in the blockbusters that he came up
with you know aside from the fact that
he was a climate change denier
okay but I think we can learn from these
two examples and from the other examples
and also from just my own personal
behavior I was just observing how I move
from thing to thing and obviously we’re
on a spectrum you know the girl at the
South by Southwest thing way over here
on the you know multitasking crazy I
don’t need anybody to tell me I’m not
gonna do this I can do five things at
once I remember she said that and then
there’s the people who just can’t do
more than one thing at once and won’t so
we’re all somewhere on that spectrum and
I think that if we just take a moment
step back lose the drama lose the
frenetic energy we will be able to
multitask get things done and do so in a
way that is productive and accurate and
effective what do you think where are
you on that spectrum what do you think
about what I’ve just said are you one of
these people that has a very specific
process for doing the things that you’re
doing share it with me in the comments
below I’d love to know I really would um
I I know that what works for me isn’t
going to necessarily work for you but we
can all pick up stuff from each other I
have a feeling that’s why you’re maybe
watching these videos I don’t know maybe
that’s why oh and I want to let you know
I just got my I just noticed I haven’t
been looking at the the email from
YouTube but a few weeks ago I got my
500th subscriber you know I’ve been
doing these for about two months and I
think I had I don’t know seven
subscribers when I started I never
actually asked people to subscribe to my
channel and now all of a sudden I have
five hundred people some of whom I know
and some of whom I’ve never heard of
before him so thank you for forwarding
these emails or these these videos the
blog post URLs whatever you’re doing
because somehow or another there’s this
following forming which i think is
really cool so thank you please keep
doing that if you wouldn’t mind and do
let me know what you think about this
video in the comments below I’d love
that if you’d like to subscribe to my
youtube channel if you’d watch this and
you said no I need to subscribe to this
go ahead and click on my head over there
if there’s no head then there’s a
subscribe button some
on the page and if you want to see the
latest one of these once a day videos
that I’m doing for the entire year go
ahead and click on that frame there and
YouTube will play it for you that’s what
they do I’m David H Lawrence xvii I
thank you so much for watching and I
will talk to you tomorrow.

5 Responses to Go Ahead. Multitask. But Try It Like This.

  1. Suzanne Karseras March 5, 2019 at 6:26 am #

    https://www.today.com/video/here-s-why-women-are-better-than-men-at-multitasking-812262467680

    I watched a documentary years ago that scanned women’s and men’s brains and the blood vessels in the brains in men, needed to multi task, are just physiologically smaller and narrower than in women.

    So it’s not your fault guys.. Now you have a good excuse. Lol

  2. ed waldorph March 5, 2019 at 9:09 am #

    This is an interesting subject. It encompasses both psychological and physiological areas of human behavior.

    Before going further I have to reveal my bias towards the majority of studies that have proven human multitasking is illusory. There is plenty of empirical evidence to show that, even those who are seemingly performing two tasks at once, one or both of the tasks suffer in quality and the total time taken to complete the two together is greater than completing the two sequentially.

    There are interesting new experiments that seem to indicate that the mind can be trained to multitask, but only at a very young age.

    I do think you have the best advice here, though. I call it serial multitasking. It involves much more attention and focus than attacking each task until complete. Scheduling, or perhaps micro-scheduling would be very important.

    Again I insist that this process would take longer than it would to do each task individually, but the psychological boost it might give one in allowing the “feeling” of being more productive might be a bonus that keeps one engaged and productive instead of wallowing in inaction.

  3. Tom March 5, 2019 at 1:04 pm #

    While listening to this I was also noticing that with a darkly light room, a black shirt makes your head look like it’s floating on the screen.

    Is that multitasking or am I only being distracted?

  4. Patricia Napolitano March 5, 2019 at 9:26 pm #

    There is a book, several years old, called “Multitasking is a Myth”. I don’t remember the author.

  5. Valerie C March 7, 2019 at 7:31 pm #

    You mentioned a TED Talk, which I’m assuming it Tim Harfords. If not, have a listen; he talks about slow-motion or slow-burning multi-tasking. It’s one of my favorite TED Talks!

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